


Catching Up On Sleep

by absolutely_mendokusai



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28522053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/absolutely_mendokusai/pseuds/absolutely_mendokusai
Summary: In which Shuuichi notices Kokichi is exhausted and forces him to get some rest.
Relationships: Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 127





	Catching Up On Sleep

Shuuichi was hanging with Ouma outside one late evening, the orange of the sunset still coming through despite the dome above them.

“Why are you still here, Saihara-chan? I told you. You’ve run out of events," said Ouma.

“I can still hang out with you without you threatening to kill me.”

“What? You enjoy my company?”

“Yes.”

Ouma laughed. “A supreme leader is very busy. I don’t have time to hang out with you all day.” Despite that he wasn’t making any sign of moving, fiddling with one of the wrappers, staring at nothing. Ouma had seemed oddly subdued today. It was a bit worrying, considering he usually had too much energy.

“Are you feeling okay?” Saihara asked. 

Kokichi turned to him. “Of course I am. You should be asking that to your astronaut buddy instead. I feel better than him, at the very least.”

Considering Shuuichi was quite certain Momota was feeling absolutely terrible, that did not give him much confidence.

“I’m boring you, aren’t I? You’ve done nothing but frown since you got here. That’s no good. I know!” Ouma’s eyes sparkled. ““You wanna play a game, don’t you? Wait a second, lemme find that puzzle you gave me.” 

Ouma jumped up and proceeded to fall off to the side. Shuuichi quickly stood up and caught him. The supreme leader blinked and gave him a slow smile. “Wow, Saihara-chan’s like my knight in shining armor, catching me when I swoon!”

“What’s wrong?” asked Shuuichi.

“Don’t worry. I stood up too fast and just felt a bit dizzy, that’s all!”

It was obviously a lie. Shuuichi looked over Ouma’s face and felt his forehead. It wasn’t warm, so he probably didn’t have a fever. Shuuichi did feel a bump though and remembered Ouma, laying on the floor, blood covering his face a couple days ago. A wave of guilt went through him. He had been too distracted by the upcoming trial to check, but what if he was actually badly hurt back there? He did fall asleep during the middle of the trial, didn't he? Whatever was ailing Ouma, he would make sure to take care of it this time.

He looked closer into Ouma's eyes and noticed how puffy they were, how they fluttered close for a second before opening back up. Ouma pushed out of his grasp and faced him.

"Have you been sleeping?"

"Of course I have!" Ouma said, throwing him a cheeky smile and putting his hands behind his head. Now that Shuuichi thought about it, the night before Chabashira's and Angie's deaths, he was loitering near the entrance of the school for some reason, right? During his workout sessions with Momota and Harukawa, he thought he could sometimes see a short figure out of the corner of his eye running around. It had to be him. 

"You look exhausted, and I’ve seen you a few times late at night.” Ouma’s expression didn’t change at all. He needed to make an appeal if he was going to get the liar to tell the truth. “It’s fine if you haven’t. I’ve had a few times where I’ve struggled to sleep here. Everyone has. It would be more strange if you haven’t.”

“I’m not like everyone else here,” said Ouma.

“I know that, but you’re still most definitely human. Is it insomnia? Nightmares?”

“Neither. Hey, I’ll tell you a secret.” Ouma put his finger up to his mouth and gave one of his mysterious, all-knowing smiles. “I’ve been doing my own investigating at night while all you’ve been lazing away. All the clues I’ve found! You’ll never know! Maybe… Maybe I’ve even found the exit.”

So had he found a use for the key card then? Or was he just being vague for the fun of it? Shuuichi was curious, but that wasn’t important at the moment. Right now he needed to focus on Ouma’s health. “Sleeping isn’t lazy. It’s important for your health.”

“Come on.” Ouma rolled his eyes. “It’s just a few all-nighters.”

“Ouma-kun, you nearly collapsed. That’s...” It implies he's barely slept since in a while. One time Shuuichi pulled an all-nighter helping his uncle on a case and felt dead the next morning. He couldn’t even imagine how Ouma was feeling. No wonder why he drank nothing but sugar. “That’s dangerous.”

“Fiiine. Since you care so much, I’ll take the night off and get some shut-eye, okay?”

Shuuichi, of course, had no reason to believe he actually would. Was Ouma even just investigating? It could never be that simple with him. Even if was good at hiding it, he had to be just as scared as the rest of them.

“No, I don’t believe you,” said Shuuichi. “I want you to spend the night with me, so I can make sure you get some rest.” Momota's been skipping out on training enough, it would be fine if he did it once. It was for Ouma’s sake.

"Oh? I see what this is all about!” Ouma lowered his voice. “You wanna sleep with me, riiight??"

Shuuichi felt his face turn warm. "No! I mean, yes. I mean…”

Ouma spread his arms out. "Because you can’t sleep, right? You’re just projecting on me. You’re scared and want someone with you when you sleep? Well, fine. If you can't sleep, of course I can spend the night with him to make him feel better!” He looked through his eyelashes. “I've always wondered what it would be like to sleep with you, after all."

"Please stop wording it like that."

“It’s okay! I hear sleep is good for your health. I want to make sure my beloved detective has a clear head so he can…” Ouma trailed off. ‘So he can solve another murder’ were the unspoken words, but why would he be nervous about saying that? He’s been spending all day going on about how fun the death game is. Ouma perked up. “So he can play more games with me! Maybe you’ll actually win with some sleep.”

Ouma wrapped his arms around Shuuichi’s right arm and pulled him towards the dorms. 

“We’re… We’re going to my room?”

“Of course! I’ve always wanted to see a detective’s office.”

“It’s not really an office…” Shuuichi took the key out of his pocket and opened his door. 

Ouma ran in and spun around, taking everything in. "Your room's real tidy," he said. "There’s like, nothing in here. Shouldn’t a detective be collecting evidence?"

"Doesn’t Monokuma remove all the evidence after the case is done?" Even the bloodstain on the library carpet was perfectly removed, without even a bleach stain. 

"That's what you think, huh?"

“Is that wrong?”

“Maybe if you took a night off sleeping, you would know.” 

Now that he had him in his room, Shuuichi was uncertain on what came next. He touched his forehead, yearning to pull down a hat that wasn’t there. Now what? Even Ouma seemed a bit awkward, staring blankly at the humidifier Akamatsu had gotten him before this all truly started on his desk. Should he just ask him to lay down? Were… Were they going to share the bed, or should Shuuichi take the armchair?

Ouma turned to him, the dark smile he got that was rarely followed by anything good on his face.

"I get what this is about. You’re planning on killing me in my sleep?"

"No!"

"That’s why you lured me in here, isn’t it?” said Ouma, gesturing to the room. “How are you going to do it? Slit my throat. No, that’s too messy, isn’t it? You'll choke me in the middle of the night, won't you? Or maybe slip me some of that poison in your lab."

“Don’t joke about that.” He knew Ouma had trust issues, but to accuse him so bluntly... Shuuichi liked to think they were friends, but if he really thought that Shuuichi would kill him… “Why would you think that?"

Ouma took a step closer to him. “Maybe because I’m planning on doing the same to you.”

“You said you wouldn’t kill me.”

Ouma leaned up close to Saihara, his face only a few inches away from his. “That was a lie, of course! Think about it. No one knows you invited me here, and why would the detective everyone trusts so hang out with a no good liar like me?” Ouma reached up and stroked his neck. “I could choke you with my scarf and hang up your corpse in your closet, make it look like a suicide. Poor little Saihara-chan, so guilty for sending three of his friends to their deaths he decided to go to his own. It would be so easy.”

Shuuichi shivered. While it was almost never directed at him (Ouma much preferred teasing and/or flirting with him than the direct insults he spat at others) it was easy to forget how cruel he could be when he really wanted to. 

“You would never kill me.”

“What makes you so sure?”

Saihara looked directly into Ouma’s eyes. “Because, I trust you.”

Like a switch, Ouma’s mode lightened. He backed off with a twirl. “Nishishi! I’m sure you won’t kill me now! You’re too naive to do something like that! Hanging around with Momota-chan so much must be decreasing your brain cells. Fine, if Saihara-chan can trust me not to kill him, I suppose I can do the same, just for one night. ” Ouma flopped starfish on Shuuichi’s bed and took a deep breath. “It smells musty and old, just like you!”

While the sudden change gave Shuuichi a headache, he sighed with relief at seeing Ouma finally settle down. Shuuichi took off the blazer of his gakuran and put it in his hamper. Supplying pajamas was an oversight by whoever threw them in here, so instead he just had to partially undress. 

Where was the right place to sleep? The armchair was the safer bet, right? 

Ouma sat up on the bed. “I thought you wanted to sleep with me. You’re chickening out, aren’t you?”

“I said I wanted to spend the night with you, not-”

“Come on, the bed’s big enough.” Ouma patted right by him. “When you get a nightmare, I want to be right here for you.”

Shuuichi sighed and laid on the bed by Ouma, who was presently undressing himself, taking off his scarf with one pull and folded it, placing it on the nightstand. Shuuichi had never seen him without the scarf before. With his neck exposed, Ouma looked even more dolllike than usual. The supreme leader noticed him looking and grinned.

"I've always wanted to strip for you, Saihara-chan. I'm glad you're paying such close attention."

“Sorry!” squeaked Shuuichi. He laid down and turned away,slippinv under the covers, face red. Ouma laughed and took off his jacket, Shuuichi stole enough of a glance over his shoulder to notice he did not have an undershirt. He could feel his face turn warm and turned off the light to hide. Ouma slipped under the covers by him. 

Ouma wanted him here for a reason, right? Was this his way of asking for comfort? Shuuichi turned towards him, reaching his arm out.

Ouma grabbed his wrist. "I know I’m adorable, but I’m not a teddy bear,” he said coldly.

"S-Sorry." What was he doing? Maybe Ouma was right, maybe he was projecting a bit. It could be intimidating at night, alone in the dark, with who knows what happening outside.

Ouma relaxed a bit. “I suppose I am doing this for you, huh?” Ouma switched his grip from his wrist to his hand and lowered it on the bed. “Will this be enough to help you stave away the nightmares?” 

“Maybe it’ll help you.”

“There’s that projecting again.” Now that he was in bed, Ouma’s exhaustion finally seemed to catch up with him and he let out a yawn. His eyes drooped closed but immediately opened.

“Relax.”

“Aw, but I wanna see you sleep again. You were sooo pretty when you took that nap at the Insect Meet-and-Greet.” Despite that, Ouma closed his eyes and within a minute his breathing had evened out. It was the stillest Shuuichi had ever seen him. It was almost unnerving.

It was earlier than Shuuichi usually went to bed. Maybe he should’ve kept the light on and read one of the books he nabbed from the library. With Ouma by his side though, Shuuichi was able to relax and doze off...

Only to awaken about an hour and a half later to Ouma grasping his hand so hard it was getting a bit numb. Shuuichi opened his eyes to see Ouma, face scrunched up and shifting in his sleep. He mumbled something incomprehensible and let out a whine. 

Who was projecting, again? 

“Hey, Ouma-kun,” said Shuuichi.

Ouma muttered something that vaguely sounded like ‘saiashan” and turned away, letting go of his hand to curl in on himself. Shuuichi sat up.

"Ouma-kun, wake up!"

Ouma shook his head in his sleep. Shuuichi reached out to touch Ouma to shake him awake and as soon as he made contact with his shoulder, he bolted up with a shout, wildly swinging at nothing before pulling at his hair. His eyes looked wildly around the room before he seemed to remember where he was at. 

Ouma turned to him, breathing heavily. "Did I scare ya?" he said weakly. "Man, you really believed I was having a nightmare, didn't you?"

Shuuichi reached out to touch Ouma, to hug him or at least comfort him, but the boy scooted back and wrapped his arms around himself, shaking his head.

“Nishishi," he laughed shakily. "My prank worked, huh? This was a nice sleepover, but I should go back to my own room now.” Ouma moved to step off the bed, but Shuuichi grabbed him by the arm and sat him back down.

“I don’t want you to be alone right now.” He could feel Ouma shaking slightly under his grip. "Just let me be."

"Everyone here is scared, Ouma-kun. It's okay. I bet everyone here has had a bad dream at least once. Do… Do you want to talk about it? ” 

Ouma looked at him, wide eyes, and shook his head. "No."

"Do… Do you want to know what my bad dreams are about?" said Shuuichi. "They’re about Akamatsu-san and how I could've stopped her, Hoshi-kun and how I could've reached out to him, Chabashira-san being killed right in front of me. Of everyone else here, dying, because I failed to solve a trial."

“Including me?” asked Ouma quietly. 

“Of course.” 

"...Once I had a dream where you died," Ouma admitted as he shivered in the darkness. He looked so small in the dark, without his trademark scarf, hair messier than usual. Saihara reached out again and this time the boy let him, accepting the hug limply. 

"Thank you for telling me."

"Oh, don't be cheesy." Ouma had apparently decided the brief moment of sincerity was over and pushed out of his grasp. “I’m wasting time. I really should leave."

“You still haven’t gotten enough sleep.

“This is way more than I’ve gotten lately, Saihara-chan, don’t worry.”

“An hour and a half?”

Ouma gave a grim smile that was evident even in the darkness of the night. 

“What could possibly be so pressing you’ve been sleeping less than an hour and a half a night?

"Haven’t you’ve been paying attention?” Ouma snapped. “About every three days a murder happens. One's going to happen soon. Maybe you'll be the next to die. Maybe, maybe I’ll be next." Ouma looked down. "If… I told you someone was going to kill me, would you believe me?"

"If you were being serious, yes," he said without hesitation. Ouma’s face went blank. “Even if it did turn out to be a lie, I’ll still rather fall for it than have you get hurt.”

Ouma laughed. “Wow, you’re even more gullible than I thought! You really shouldn’t believe me, you know?” His voice deepened. “I’m not sure if I believe myself sometimes.” 

"...Someone is, aren’t they?” Or at least Ouma thought someone was. He’s threatened to kill before, but to mention being the one actually killed… His behavior of wearing himself down. “Who?"

Ouma bit his finger and looked away, shaking his head. “No. No one is.” 

"Who is it? If you tell me, I can do something."

“No… I already said too much…” He let out a breathy laugh. “I really do need to sleep. I should be better at this, damn it.” 

“Then sleep now, and in the morning, when you can think better, we can figure it out, okay?"

"Mm," said Ouma, laying back down with a sigh. “You’re never gonna leave me alone now, aren you? You’ll be super annoying from now on.”

“I mean it. I can talk to the others for you.”

“Sure, sure. You’ll totally save the day and no one will ever be killed again."

Shuuichi laid back down and held out his hand for Ouma to hold. "You don’t have to worry by yourself."

The supreme leader stared at him for a moment before scooting closer and wrapped every limb he could around him. 

“Wh-What are you doing?”

“I’m not a teddy bear, but you are,” he muttered into his chest.

Shuuichi put his arm around Ouma. The supreme leader let out a sigh and relaxed, once again falling asleep. Tomorrow would be a struggle to get Ouma to actually tell him what was happening, but right now, everything was warm, and he could rest. 

**Author's Note:**

> idk why but I lost all confidence about 3/4ths through this.
> 
> Anyway, if you want a story besides my self-deprecation, one day I was checking my downloads folder and found a folder full of Kokichi wallpapers I had no memory of. Like, it was named like a download you would get from one place, so it’s not like I blacked out and downloaded a bunch of Kokichi pics, I probably just misclicked somewhere. Still freaked me out for a moment.
> 
> If anyone wants to yell at me about Kokichi, my tumblr is [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/absolutely-mendokusai).


End file.
